At least a short week will get it out of our system quickly, I guess? The 49ers’ Sunday crumble to the Jacksonville Jaguars was as baffling as it was infuriating.

I don’t mean to disparage Jacksonville when I say this, but the facts are there, and the yardage totals speak to it too – the 49ers lost to an inferior team, and possibly a much more inferior team. For all the teeth-gnashing about the 49ers performance, the only reason the Jaguars were even in the game largely boiled down to poor play: inexplicable drops, turnovers, and special teams miscues, all of which led to 17 points. The Jacksonville offense didn’t actually produce anything in the second half of much note, sans the drive which helped them run out the clock.

The Reasons for Defeat are Numerous and Complex

That’s what makes everything so annoying, and it’s a difficult loss to shake off. Those fond of lazy narratives and today’s ‘gotcha’ culture will happily tell you it was all down to Nick Bosa missing, or Brock Purdy playing poorly, and how he’s a terrible quarterback, and the 49ers shouldn’t have paid him, yada yada yada…the reality is, there’s very few players on any side of the ball that could emerge from that game with any credit. Christian McCaffrey dropped a ton of passes, one of which led to an interception. Jauan Jennings dropped a touchdown. Jason Pinnock took a horrible angle on a run-stop that led to a 48-yard touchdown run…I could easily hit my word count just by explaining those who let the team down on Sunday.

Coaching Issues: the Red Zone Remains Impenetrable

Nor should the coaching staff escape criticism. Six points from two early redzone appearances summed up an ongoing running sore for Kyle Shanahan, namely getting the ball into the endzone.

Sure, George Kittle is missing, but the 49ers redzone gameplan currently seems to follow a pattern not dissimilar to that of South Park’s underpants gnomes:

- Run Christian McCaffrey into a brick wall

- Throw a contested pass (if you’re lucky–see Jake Tonges in Week 1–this might work)

- ??????????

- Field goal.

Defensively, while things tightened up in the second half, Robert Saleh’s gameplan brought back memories of games in 2019 and 2020 without Nick Bosa and other impactful edge players. I said in last week’s column that I had misgivings about Saleh without elite players to rely on, but I did have some faith that he would be a better coach the second time around and therefore find a way to make it work without them–unfortunately, it took too long in this one. The signs are okay, but he’s going to have to find a solution quickly to zero pressures being recorded on Sunday.

One suspects it wasn’t all on the individual players, but perhaps also the passivity of the defensive scheme, with the 49ers seemingly content to allow Trevor Lawrence short completions throughout the game. In fairness, it almost worked, but it’s a defensive style that not many are accustomed to seeing from a man who describes his scheme as "all gas, no brakes."

Special Teams is Still the Worst Part of the 49ers

Special teams also remains the bane of the 49ers existence, with some back-breaking returns given up, including one that led to a touchdown. We’ve changed the coaches on special teams, we’ve changed kicker and punter, so maybe it’s just the fact that players refuse to give their all on special teams units that accounts for the problem. Ji’Ayir Brown, fresh off branding himself a top five safety in the league (he’s barely a top five safety on the 49ers) and Chase Lucas, a roster fringe player, in particular, gave disgraceful efforts on key special teams plays. Will the 49ers ever find an answer here, or is it going to continue to be the same issue it’s been for the last decade?

No Excuses in Week 5

More than anything, though, I just want to stop hearing excuses. Yes, Bosa is gone. Yes, offensive playmakers are missing ... and Ricky Pearsall would seem to be joining them, derailing what was looking like a breakout season. Yes, there were some baffling refereeing calls on Sunday, particularly on Upton Stout’s interception. But you can overcome all that if you’re smart, execute, and play with some urgency, especially with a bunch of talent still on the roster. The 49ers did none of the three on Sunday until it was too late.

Key veterans like tackle Trent Williams and even McCaffrey are letting the team down with insipid, half-hearted performances. Coaching is letting the side down by proving Einstein’s theory of insanity week after week, and refusing to fix glaring flaws that have existed for eons. The 49ers, with or without Nick Bosa, have a roster capable of winning games, especially against teams like Jacksonville. That they don’t is down to attitude, execution, and sometimes, how much the team cares.

It’s a short week, and an already-huge divisional game with the Los Angeles Rams looms large on Thursday Night Football. It’s time for the 49ers to put up or shut up, because even as early as Week 5, it’s time to find out what sort of team this is. Is it the team who gutted out three wins in the season’s opening weeks, despite adversity? Or is it the half-hearted team that crumbled in the face of problems on Sunday?

We’ll find out, and honestly, I’m not sure which it’s going to be. The 49ers can certainly beat an unimpressive Rams team, if it plays its best, hardest, and cares about the result. Alternatively, it can continue to point to the losses of players like Bosa, and hand in the season before the clocks have even gone back.